KOFXIII Official Blog Updates / K' Fan Made Sprite

Just a small update today, the official KOFXIII blog has been updated today with two new entries.
One regarding the preview event and one about the location test.

From what i can understand they are both written by Masaaki Kukino, he is basically doing a short write up of the two events as well as thanking fans for attending, and based on the comments left during the two events they will be used towards building the final game.

In other news, i came across this K' fan made sprite whilst reading Shoryuken.com's forums.
Pretty impressive work, you can check out his website here or his Deviant Art page.



Also check out his restyling of SF characters in KOFXII style.

KOFXIII - A Quick Look at the UK stage / KOFXIII updates / 02UM Vids

As it may or may not be known now, as part of the new stages added to KOFXIII they have also added a new UK stage.

I thought it'd be interesting to take a look at the background and make a little comparison to the real UK.

At first look of the background it's very stereotypical, much like many of the other stages, though upon looking at it a bit more carefully i found it does actually bare quite a resemblance to Parliment Square. (Which judging by the fact they stuck Big Ben in there seems to be what it is based on.)

If you look at the photo below i am guessing the background is based on that corner/turning in the middle of the image. Though of course it looks like they've moved Big Ben to the other side of the road instead of it being attached to the Houses of Parliment.

Though of course not 100% the same, you can get the idea of the inspiration behind it.

Some more pictures, i'm sure it's easy to guess what these are:


Also in terms of updates for the actual game, SNKPlaymore US' official site has been updated with a new banner but not much else.


Shoryuken.com user thedigitalsin has also made animated gifs ripped from the swf files from the KOFXIII official site. You can check them out here.


A new video has been uploaded by Youtube user ReXXXSoprano.



And last but not least, Game A-Cho's channel has been updated with a whole load of 2002UM tournament videos.

KOFXIII Official Site, Team K' leaked, System demonstrations.

I was supposed to update again with a bit of KOFXIII's system information on Friday or over the weekend but unfortunately couldn't find the time to finish off what i started writing. On the bright side though, SNKP have uploaded two videos with demonstrations for EX moves and Hyperdrive combo, so it saved me alot of time editing strips of photos together.

Firstly is a video of Athena's Psycho Ball and EX Psycho Ball, note the standard version hits once whereas the EX version uses 1x Super bar and hits three times.



Next up is a demonstration of Kyo's HyperDrive Combo, note that you can cancel into it ala 2002's BC combo system.



Also judging by this video, my earlier suspicions of Kyo having his three part fire punch may have been incorrect.

Next up the big piece of news, the official KOFXIII site has been opened, which you can see it here.
What was interesting about this is it was discovered within the website that the missing team will in face be Team K' ! Aside from knowing that K' will make the final line up, there is no other information currently regarding who will make up the rest of his team.
(At a guess likely candidates would include Kula, Whip, Maxima)


The original image was viewable here, but it seems that SNKP realised they had made a mistake and have since removed it from the site.
But anyway back to the official site, it's rather beautifully designed and includes the background story, character profiles, system information, event news, etc... Not everything is fully shown yet, quite a few 'Coming Soon' images.

It seems to be incredibly slow at the moment, most likely due to fans flooding the website...

I've uploaded the set of BGM themes which have been ripped from the site, (you can download it here via rapidshare), i'll try to remember to reupload it to megaupload or a more stable file sharing site later on today. (As it seems rapidshare will only allow 10 downloads...)
Also note that the character select BGM mp3 does not work, i forgot to take it out before i uploaded...

Also check out the gorgeous backgrounds:




Also don't forget the next issue of Arcadia is out tomorrow, as i did with the previous issue i will do a write up when i get my copy (which hopefully won't take too long, but you can't tell with international mail).

There's a small (literally) preview up on Arcadia's website:


More news as it comes in!

KOF XIII Move Lists, News, Pics, Etc...

So another day, another load of news for KOFXIII.

First up as you can see above, move lists have been made available online. (Just to note this is not a FULL moves list.)

I'll start off with a basic translation of the System section:

• Dash - tap forward twice
• Back Step - tap backwards twice
• Evasive Roll - forward / backward + A+B
• Blow Back/Body Toss - C+D
• Recovery Roll - A+B when landing from fall.
• Forward Throw - (close) towards opponent + C
• Backward Thow - (close) towards opponent + D
• Hyper Drive Mode Activate - B+C (Uses up Hyper gauge)
• Guard Cancel Roll (forward) - Whilst guarding, forward/down forward + A+B (Costs one power gauge)
• Guard Cancel Roll (backwards) - Whilst guarding, backwards + A+C (Costs one power gauge)
• Guard Cancel Blow Back Attack - Whilst guarding, C+D. (Costs one power gauge).

If there's any request for it, i can look into getting the names of the moves for all the characters. (Though this is very time consuming!)

Also you may or may not have noticed but i've added the new character portraits to the gallery (in the right hand side menu), you can click on 'View All' to see larger images.

Next some more pics from yesterday's Official Preview Event.

(From left to right: Masaaki Kukino, Haruna Ikezawa, and Sayuki Matsumoto.)

(Mitsuhiro Ichiki, showing some of the prizes given away.)

The KOFXIII blog has also been updated with photos from the location test. You can check them out here or from the links in the side bar menu.

Some videos have been popping up on Youtube from today's Location Test.
Check them out on Saigerubon's Channel here and wx0635's channel here.

Of particular note there is a glitch shown in this video, where King's super hits Kyo out of his fireball and is frozen until hit again.





More updates to come!

King of Fighters XIII Official Preview @ BelleSalle, Akihabara.

So today KOFXIII was finally previewed at Akihabara, BelleSalle.

Although i was not able to go myself, there is plenty of information floating around on the net and quite a few videos already on Youtube.

Based on what i've seen from the videos this is what i can tell has been changed/added (though as i do not have access to the game myself so some details may be sketchy).

System:

• Critical Counter removed and replaced by the new HyperDrive mode, which seems similar to BC cancelling in 2002. Seems like you can activate this by itself or cancel it from a move. Also it seems the Hyper bar is lost if you are hit during max up.
• Guard break bar makes a return.
  
• Drive Cancel, which takes a chunk of the new Hyper bar (located on top of the Super bar). You can use this to cancel special moves into each other.
• Counter stumble has been removed, it does seem that there is a very slight stumble after counter but no where near as long as it was in XII.
• C+D guard break has returned and replaced the back+C+D from XII. (Takes one stock)
• Super stock, and the Hyper bar increase with each character in your team. (Starts with 3, second character 4, etc...)
• The zooming camera seems to have been removed.
• EX Special moves (e.g Joe's EX Hurricane shoots out 3 Hurricanes), which take 1 stock to use. You can cancel special moves into EX moves via Drive Cancel.
  
• EX Supers, as far as i can tell these cost two stocks and the background goes black. (Not 100% certain about this)
• 4 new stages, one of them being the UK. :)
• Colour select menu, i've read it's about 10 per character.
• Character pre fight dialogue, i think this may be vs CPU only.

Characters:

• Athena: Psycho Teleport, and it seems she can now do her Shining Crystal Bit super in the air.
  
• Kyo: Can now do Orochinagi in the air (Maybe he learnt this in his time in KOF:SkyStage o_O), he also looks like he has had some moves slowed down (Not 100% sure), and regains his air dwn+C. Looks like he can also do his air down+C whilst hopping backwards like old KOF games.
• Joe: Gains his Ougon no Kakato (qcb+K), as well as his Bakuretsu Hurricane Tiger Kakato super.
  
• Raiden: Has gained a new drop kick move.

New characters include Mai, King and Yuri.

Rumours/Unconfirmed:

There seem to be slots for at least another 6 characters. One slot reserved for Iori's team, one slot reserved for Kim's team and one for the Art of Fighting team.
Judging by the unused data found on the KOFXII disc, these characters would most likely be Vice, Hwa Jai and Takuma.
Alot of rumours flying around who might fit into the final 3 slots, some think it may be a Hizoku team (Lin maybe?) and some seem to think it'll be a K' team.

Again judging by the unused data from the KOFXII disc it is very possible other characters may/will include Dark Ash, a Boss character, 98' style Iori, Billy (either from Rage of the Dragons or Billy Kane), and there were 9 'bad allocations' which could well indicate another 9 characters.
Based on the intro movie, Rose (Adelheid's sister) is present which could mean Adelheid will make it into the game, also Mukai and Botan are showed along with 'Those from the Past'.

There is also some speculation as to whether Ron will finally make a playable appearance.


So quite alot of information shown today with alot left to be excited about, Tougeki this year will also feature KOFXIII as a tournament game in category C and the location tests begin tomorrow so expect more videos to pop up on Youtube.
For now you can check out Samalus' Youtube Channel here, there's also a couple of vids on BasGrosPoing's Youtube Channel here, or there's one vid up on Youku here.

I'll just end this entry with some pics.




Also don't forget to check out Dengeki Online, for three pages of character art/screenshots.

SNKP's King of Fighters XIII Official Blog

SNKPlaymore have released their new blog site for King of Fighters XIII, not much information there yet, just an introduction from Masaaki Kukino regarding the preview event tomorrow.

As well as him saying that KOFXIII will live up to everyone's expectations, a vague statement about this or that character making an appearance, and asking for all attendees to the event to please make their thoughts about the game well known so they know what to change.

See the original blog entry here (in Japanese).

I have also added the KOFXIII Official Blog RSS Feed to this site (underneathe the 'Blog Archive' box), so you can also keep up with blog entries when you visit here.

King of Fighters XIII - Preview Event / Location Test Details

SNKPlaymore today revealed a few more details regarding the First Preview Event, which will be at BelleSalle Akihabara next week.

For the First 100 guests they will receive a KOFXIII Original Tumbler (Cup).


They've also announced the names of a few of the special guests who will be at the event, amongst them is Matsumoto Sayuki, a Japanese gravure model.

There are loads of videos of her on Youtube for those interested. ;)

One of the other guests is Haruna Ikezawa who is the voice actress for Athena Asamiya, as well as being a voice actress for various other anime/games. The third guest i am not sure the specifics on.
(Edit: Found out the third guest is Mitsuhiro Ichiki, thanks to Brianna from the KOFXII Facebook fan page for pointing that out.)

Also the first round of location tests has also been announced, with the first ones starting from the 26th March to the 28th March. Check out full details on the KOFXIII event page here.

Arcadia April 2010 - A Quick Look.

Just got my issue of Arcadia in the mail from this morning, decided to order this issue after hearing some rumours about KOF XIII (which turned out to just be the logo and a little information on the preview event at the end of this month) and the article on Neo Geo's 20th Anniversary.

So anyway the vast majority of the issue is dedicated to all things Neo Geo, and if i'm not mistaken it says on the front cover that this is only the first part.
The magazine comes with a free card for some sort of card based online game, though i have no idea what it is...The artwork for the card is not too bad though.

As soon as you open the magazine you are greeted with a two page spread with a message thanking SNK fans for the past 20 years.


The first article basically explains 'What is Neo Geo' with the companies history, etc (not being able to read much Japanese i can't tell alot of what's going on here).
It then goes on to show the Neo Geo catalogue of games (AES/MVS/NGCD/HyperNG64), whilst this is quite a nice section to have a look at it does seem rather 'unprofessional' that some games do not seem to have screen shots...Instead replaced by 'SORRY NO IMAGE'.

(Also don't forget to check out the Neo Geo museum website, which also has a less detailed Neo Geo catalogue.)

Anyway moving on, as well as the articles on various parts of SNK's History, there is also a 'Lady Game Centre' feature on what i assume is something about 'Gaming Idols'. No idea wtf this is all about.

There are also two interviews, one with Akio who worked on the design for Metal Slug 1-3, and another with one of the staff members (whose name unfortunately i can't read) who worked on Twinkle Star Sprites, as well as Doki Doki Majou Shinpan.

Also there is some fan art of SNKP characters, as well as some previews of some of the upcoming XBLA games.

Other bits and pieces in the magazine include some stuff on Arcana Heart 3, there's a two page spread with something about Daigo Umehara, etc...

So is this magazine worth picking up? If you can read Japanese then i would say so, if like me you can't then a lot of the information on SNK's history in the magazine you can probably read online somewhere in English. Personally i only picked it up out of curiosity.

You can order it online from Playasia for £11.27 (Just to note, even the cheapest shipping option is about £5), or you can subscribe to Arcadia via Playasia for a slightly cheaper price here. Though the subscription will start from next months issue and not this one.

Japan Centre also sells Arcadia Magazine, though i'm not absolutely sure what the normal price is, the issue i saw when i went in there recently was one of the older ones with the Tougeki DVDs and cost £24.10 compared to the £9.27 (minus shipping) it costs for the same issue on Playasia.

I've subscribed via Playasia myself, so if there's any more KOFXIII or SNK related news in future issues i'll be sure to write about it here.

I'll just finish up this short write up with a few pics from the magazine.

Samurai Shodown Sen @ Tate Britain - Friday 5th March

As part of the Late At Tate Britain exhibition at the Tate Britain you will get the chance to play Samurai Shodown Sen (amongst other games) this Friday, which is due for release mid April (according to the preorder date on Game.co.uk).

According to the details shown on Tate Britain's website, the time for the event will run from about 6:30pm to 9:30pm and will be free entry.

Thanks to ZeroNiiro on NeoEmpire for posting up the info about this exhibition.